U.S. sanctions on Russia-Germany gas pipeline unfair business strategy, says Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that U.S. sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany were an unfair attempt to maintain its positions on the European gas market.
The pipeline, to expand Russian gas supplies directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea, is set to come into operation in the coming months.
The U.S. Senate had earlier approved the sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said that the sanctions were a direct violation of international law and an ideal example of unfair competition.
Peskov said the U.S. is attempting to maintain its artificial domination of European markets and force Europeans to buy gas from the U.S. at a higher price than from nearby Russia.
Nord Stream 2 and another gas pipeline soon to be put into operation, TurkStream, between Russia and Turkey, have raised concerns in Kiev that Russia would avoid sending gas to conflict-laden Ukraine.
Moscow has been at least nominally supporting pro-Russian rebel groups fighting the Ukrainian military in Eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, for the past five years.
According to UN estimates, Kiev attests that the new pipelines undermine European Union efforts intended to force Russia to end the conflict, in which about 13,000 people had been killed.
However, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to renew a gas supply contract that had expired not yielded a new agreement.
Meanwhile, the sides are expected to meet on Thursday in Berlin.